TAMARAC, Fla. – The Broward County State Attorney’s Office decided not to file charges against the Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies who shot a patient at a mental health facility 12 times.
In a 25-page close out memo released on Thursday, prosecutors concluded deputies’ exercised a “justifiable use of deadly force under Florida law.”
Jarvis Randall was killed just hours after learning his father had died. Surveillance video shows him breaking the fiberglass ceiling tiles and grabbing two sharp pieces.
“I do think they went over their bounds by coming in the facility and using deadly force on him,” Randall’s mother, Angela Randall, said.
Deputies perceived the sharp pieces as weapons. Witnesses said Randall threatened to “stab someone in the neck” and said “he wanted police to shoot him.”
Deputies reported bean bag pellets didn’t stop him. A deputy reported a Taser “wouldn’t have an effect on Randall due to the baggy clothing he was wearing.”
Randall’s family released a statement after prosecutors announced their decision: “Jarvis Randall did not have to die. He died because instead of calling a licensed therapist or psychiatrist, the hospital called armed police officers.”